45K and Pressing Forward...

After my last post filled with stress, angst, and spousal dishwashing, things took a turn for the much-better. If Saturday was one of those days when parenting seemed like too much of a challenge even for me (!), Sunday was the kind of family day where I wouldn't consider selling the kids even the circus was paying top dollar.

This might be because we had a complete Day of Fun Activities planned for them. But I doubt it, because as any parent knows, it's entirely possible to plan a Day of Fun Activities and have it turn out like a real family Bataan Death March if even one person is in a bad mood.

But this Sunday, nobody was in a bad mood, and we started off with family swim at the Aquarena. Christopher and I got lots of trips down the waterslide. Emma got to show off her swimming skills. At one point she wanted me to stand with my legs apart so she could swim between them underwater. "Watch in amazement!" she commanded Jason. Apparently it's not enough just to watch -- you must watch in amazement.

In the afternoon we went to see Flushed Away. This movie has been getting very mediocre reviews but I honestly don't know why. I enjoyed every minute and Jason & the kids did too -- it's smart, sweet and funny, which is exactly what I look for in a kids' movie, and I think it compares favourably to the rest of the movies both Aardman and Dreamworks have produced. Liked the movie; loved the singing slugs. Plus, combined with the actors' English accents, all the scenes of Roddy ineptly piloting the Jammy Dodger through the sewers reminded me vividly of our vacation this summer and my own attempts to steer a canal boat through the locks.

One interesting bonus to the movie was that before it started, when the previews began, it quickly became obvious that they were showing previews inappropriate to a kids' movie. They started with Stranger than Fiction, which was odd and random but OK, but then they showed a movie for something called Alpha Dogs, clearly a violent and disturbing movie, and parents started to voice loud concerns while shielding their children's eyes. The theatre staff showed up by the third preview to apologize -- they had accidentally put the reel for The Prestige on instead. We had to wait awhile for the proper movie to start, and out of concern for our inconvenience, not to mention our traumatized children, they gave us all free movie passes and concession discount coupons on the way out. Gee, that was almost worth having my six-year-old watch the preview for Alpha Dogs.

With all that action and excitement I did not get my usual writing trip to Chapters on Sunday afternoon, but I have been working hard to make up the slack and hit 45K this evening -- and am gradually thinking my story is salvageable. So all's well on the home front and the NaNo front, and now I really need to get some sleep!